


Renegade

by DristanJames



Series: Cormak Fayne [1]
Category: Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Clone Trooper, Mandalorian, clone
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-20
Updated: 2017-08-13
Packaged: 2018-11-02 20:54:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10952544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DristanJames/pseuds/DristanJames
Summary: The story of a group of Clone Troopers who stumble upon a crashed ship full of the history and relics of a Mandalorian clan from over a millennium ago. When the Republic is going to put these relics behind lock and key, the group take it upon themselves to preserve the history of this clan, ultimately betraying the Republic and becoming Mandalorians.





	1. A Discovery

Year: 20 BBY 08:06  
Benduday 10:34:11  
Location: Bothawui

The nine Clone Troopers of Platoon 26th Squad 3, led by the platoon's lieutenant, CT-2434, are awaiting orders while being shipped across the surface of Bothawui in a LAAT series gunship.

"Lieutenant, Sergeant, soldiers." A holoprojector in the rear center of the transport ship sparks to life as a nikto Jedi Knight appears from the projector.

"You come in loud and clear," replied the sickly green-clad sergeant.

"You're heading to a ship that crashed almost a planetary rotation ago. We don't know what it is doing in this system, nor do we know who was piloting this ship. Your mission is to identify the ship and secure the area. This could be a dangerous mission, but we can't risk losing the planet to anything. No life forms were detected in our initial scans, so be careful of battle droids. Good luck, soldiers." The hologram flickers out and the clone troops face the front of the ship, where their sergeant and lieutenant are facing them. 

However, before the lieutenant can say anything, the clone pilot speaks up, "We've got the crash site in our visual, sir."

"Alright soldiers, let's make this a quick and easy mission. Once we hit the ground, CTs 14850 through 14856 will be lead by the sergeant to scout the forest around the crash site to find anyone who has escaped the crash site. As the Jedi said, there were no life forms detected in the crash site so we don't know if the pilot and crew have escaped or if there were any at all, and I don't plan to risk an ambush on the crash site. CTs 14857 through 14859 will be lead by me to inspect the crash site. For quick communication, call each other by the last two digits of your CT number, '50, '51, '52, and so on." As the lieutenant finished talking, the transport ship slows down and lands with its right side facing the crashed ship.

"Sergeant, your group will take the left door out. Spread out and find the survivors, if there are any. My group, we're taking the right. Two of you post on opposite sides of the downed ship, the remaining soldier will be with me to inspect the ship's inside." The lieutenant and sergeant both bash the side of their fists on their respective doors twice to signal the pilot to open them. As the doors open the sergeant’s group instantly jump out of the ship and spread out into the forest. The lieutenant's group wait a second and watch the area just outside the door before stepping out and doing as they were commanded. '57 and '58 quickly rush to their respective positions at the front and back of the crashed ship, and the lieutenant and '59 approach the crashed ship. 

'58 came in over the lieutenant's group's voice communication channel, "Crash site's 12 o'clock is secure."

"As is 6 o'clock," adds '57.

"Good job, keep an eye out while '59 and I take a look inside." As the lieutenant finished talking, he and '59 approach the ship's door. "Looks like the ship ran out of power centuries ago. Help me open the door, '59".

"Yes, sir," replied '59, before he grabs one of the mechanical sliding doors and the lieutenant grabs the other. 

The door is tough to open without power opening it automatically, but the two clones manage to pry open the doors. The lieutenant quickly raised his DC-15A blaster rifle towards the cockpit door, and '59 raised his DC-15S rifle, the short range alternative to the lieutenant's rifle, towards the back side of the ship. They both scan the ship from each of their sides and their aims meet in the middle. 

"All clear, Lieutenant," whispers ‘59.

The lieutenant nods in agreement and the two of them step into the ship. This section of the ship was 15 meters from front to back and roughly 7 meters from side to side, making this section roughly half the size of the ship. There are random crates and objects thrown around from the crash, but the thing that caught both of the clone's eyes is the set of armour pinned to the wall that looks to be made of bone. The two clones take a few steps in before going their separate ways. The lieutenant heads towards the cockpit of the ship and '59 heads to the back room. 

Before either one can make it to the places they're heading, '59 picks up an old holoprojector off the ground and nudged the lieutenant’s arm with it, "Should we activate it sir?" 

Fifty-nine keeps his sights around the room while the lieutenant looks down at the holoprojector. “Place it in the middle of the room and turn it on,” he says. “Keep an eye on your opposing door. I don't want to activate something bad without being ready for it." 

Fifty-nine did as he's told and placed the holoprojector in the middle of the room, turning it on before quickly putting his back to the far corner of his side and aims his rifle towards the cockpit door. The lieutenant puts his back to the opposite corner and aims his rifle towards the door to the back section of the ship. The holoprojector buzzed for a second before slowly projecting an image of a boy in Mandalorian armour. The two clones can hear blaster fire in the background of the recording and the boy looks around himself before taking off his helmet. While the background noise of the recording is blaster fire, they can still hear the boy clearly. 

He sighs before he speaks, "Alright, seems like I'm safe for a sec here. This is Synil Fayne of Clan Fayne in the year 1781 after the Treaty of Coruscant."

"That's almost 2 thousand years ago sir!" ‘59 says.

"I know, Trooper,” the lieutenant responds. “Now quiet down so we can hear what the boy is saying."

The hologram continued, "We are under attack from a rival clan, a deal went south and they're taking their pay in blood. I’m making a last ditch effort to save our relics, history, and secrets in hopes that someone will be able to continue Fayne traditions. I’ve stuck as much of my clan's history and secrets as I can in the datapads in the back section of the ship and as many of our relics I could fit. The most important of these relics is a suit of armour made from the bones of a krayt dragon, worn in battle by one of our heroes, Mir'sheb the Savior. His armour has been a symbol of our clan's strength for over a thousand years. But the most important thing on this ship-" 

The distant blaster fire is very clearly nearing where Synil was hiding to record the message. "Oh no..." he says before pushing some crates up against the door. "But the most important thing on this ship is a personality matrix and memory core of an old droid made by one of our past Alors. Whoever finds this shuttle will be able to learn the most from him, so keep those parts safe. He’ll respond to the name ISO. He’s been plugged into the ship and he’ll keep sending this ship into hyperspace to random destinations to keep our relics safe. I beg of whoever finds this, please continue my clan. And remember, do NOT trust Clan Strurr'n!" 

Just as the boy says that, the door bursts open. The crates are all knocked over and Synil rushes to grab the holoprojector. He chucks it into the a shuttle while it is still recording and yells, "Go ISO! GO! RU-" 

However as he says the final word, the audible noise of a blaster shot is heard, a loud grunt by Synil and his armour clad body hitting the ground. The holoprojector is upside down and has no visuals to record but the two clones are clearly able to hear the shuttle doors close as the shuttle rumbled and took off. After a few seconds of nothing being recorded the holoprojector switched off.

"Woah." said ‘59, eventually breaking the silence.

"Well trooper, now we know the situation,” the lieutenant says, sounding stunned at the change of situation. “This ship must have run out of power centuries ago and eventually drifted into Bothawui's orbit and dragged down to where it crashed here. Take a look in the back and see what relics the boy was talking about."

"Yes sir." Fifty-nine moved from his aimed position towards the cockpit and heads into the back room of the shuttle. Because the shuttle has no power, there's no light, so he activated his helmet's flood light. 

"Wow. There's weapons back here, sir. And books, and datapads," he says as he scans his eyes across the room. "Nothing hostile in here."

"See if you can find something with more information on this Clan Fayne,” the lieutenant calls from just past the door. “I'll check out the cockpit."

"Yes, sir."

As '59 starts activating and reading datapads in the back section of the ship, the Lieutenant slided the cockpit door open, only to find an empty pilot's seat and the personality matrix and memory core Synil mentioned, plugged into a box which is plugged into the ship's navicomputer. 

"Well hello, ISO." He says to himself. To his surprise a little light on the box flashed a few times. 

"Wait, can you hear me? Flash once if you can." 

The box sits idle for a few moment without any flashes. 

"I guess you can't then. That must have been a random light." 

Just as he says that, the box flashed its light. 

"You're a cheeky thing. Can you hear me or not? Same thing as before." 

The personality matrix flashes a moment after he says that. 

"Ok, ISO. Eventually we'll find you a body and we'll plug you in alright. You've got a lot to tell us." 

The box lights up a few times before ‘59 chimed in over the group voice communication channel, snapping the lieutenant back to reality.

“These datapads I’m reading are full of pretty heavy stuff.”

“Right, '59, keep reading up on this clan. I'll go give the rest of the squad the sitrep."

"Yes, sir."

About an hour passed before the whole squad made it back to the crash site. The lieutenant explains the situation of where the ship was from, how it ended up crashing on Bothawui, and what Synil Fayne had said on the holoprojector. 

“Well, Lieutenant, that’s one hell of a story. But we can’t drop everything to help some kid’s clan come back. We’ve got a war to fight.” The sergeant says, very matter-of-fact.

The lieutenant is taken aback by the sergeant’s abruptness. From the missions he had been on with the sergeant, he hadn’t spoken so freely before. He usually kept his opinions to the mission report. “You don’t think I know that, Sergeant? I wasn’t suggesting we restart some kid’s clan. Now let’s get back in the LAAT and head back to the base.”


	2. The Start of Something New

Year: 20 BBY 08:10  
Benduday 14:12:58  
Location: Kamino Cloning Facility

The lieutenant lead the 26th Platoon in the Grand Army of the Republic. His four squads were each tight-knit groups of nine. He was spread between the four squads like a parent of thirty-six kids, having to try and designate time to deal with them all. It wasn’t often he was able to just be with one squad like he was for the mission on Bothawui and it was refreshing to manage a handful of his soldiers instead of the full platoon. Now that he was back on Kamino, he missed the closeness of being on the field with one of his squads. The feeling of protection while on a mission, and the responsibility of having to lead was something he enjoyed. He hadn’t yet reported to his captain but was on his way to do so. However, on the way to the mission debriefing, a clone stopped him in the hall. It was ‘59.

“Lieutenant, may I have a word?” 

“Of course, CT 14859.”

“Please sir, for quick communication just use the last two digits of my CT number.” ‘59 says jokingly. The lieutenant smiles under his helmet. Squad 3 was the squad that he had spent the most time with personally on missions. Even when leading all four squads into battle, Squad 3 was the one at his side.

“Ok, ‘59. What’s the problem?”

“No problem sir, I was just wondering what we’re going to do about this Mandalorian stuff we found. I ‘borrowed’ a few of the datapads from the shuttle and-”

“You what?”

“I took some of the datapads…”

“Fifty-nine, we weren’t allowed to take anything from the crash site with us. It’s all the Republic’s property now. Not ours.”

“I know, sir, but if you could hear me out? We could continue this boy’s clan. We were all raised and trained by Mandalorians, our armour is inspired by theirs, and we’re even clones of one. This is a part of our heritage and I don’t think we should leave it all for the Republic to put into a storage room and lock away.”

“One soldier doesn’t make a clan.”

“It’s not just me, sir. ‘57 and ‘58 think so too. Even Ships and Dizzy agree.” The lieutenant didn’t remember all the nicknames of the clones in his platoon, but he knew those two. Ships was Squad 3’s pilot. While not officially a part of the squad, he was still the one always flying them in and out of missions and got his name because of it. Dizzy was a part of the squad, CT 14854. He got his name because he’d been shot in the head during training and ended up crawling into a wall in the confusion. The shot didn’t leave any damage, just a dent in his helmet and blurred vision for about 20 seconds. 

“Alright, ‘59, four soldiers doesn’t make a clan either.”

“We were hoping you’d be our fifth, sir. We can’t get anywhere near the crashed ship without your help.”

“No way, ‘59. Our duty is to protect the Republic. Like your sergeant said, we’ve got a war to fight.”

“Just think about it, sir. This is something we need to do.”

“Sure.” And without another word spoken, the lieutenant was off. After all, he needed to debrief the captain. 

However, the thought was stuck in his head as he turned a left corner into another hallway. Through the windows on either side of this hall he could see the young clones being trained on computers and being watched by the Mandalorians that had trained him and his fellow clones. Of the Mandalorians who trained him, he could see Vhonte Tervho and Kal Skirata. While they hadn’t trained him throughout his growth period, they had assisted him on multiple training simulations and taught him a few things about their culture. At this point he had stopped walking and was watching his old teachers do their job. Vhonte didn’t notice him, but Kal did. He looked up through the window at the lieutenant and nodded at him with a slight smile. The lieutenant nodded back and continued on his way. 

The lieutenant followed the passage through a few more twists and turns until he arrived at his destination. He pressed a button on the wall to open the door; a mission debriefing was already underway but it was not his. He stood at the end of the small pathway that lead to a large table with multiple projections on and around it. A few moments passed and a few blue clad lieutenants like himself walk past him and leave the room. It was his turn to tell his captain what he and his squad had found in the crashed ship. 

The captain addressed him as he stepped forward, “So, Lieutenant, I take it there was no threat from the crashed ship on Bothawui? There’s no scorch marks on your armour; the whole squad came back in one piece. What exactly did you find there?”

“Well, Captain, it was a shuttle, centuries old. It had been sent into hyperspace to random destinations by a Mandalorian to keep a rival clan from getting his clan’s secrets and relics. We found a holoprojector on the floor of the shuttle that showed us the last moments of this boy packing the shuttle before he was attacked and killed. The shuttle is full of relics and histo-” 

“So, nothing important. We’ll send a team to collect the shuttle and we’ll put it’s contents into storage. You’re dismissed, Lieutenant.”

The lieutenant hesitated, “One more thing, Captain.”

“Make it quick.” Ordered the captain.

The lieutenant’s stomach churned. He hadn’t thought, just blurted the question. “I’d like to request permission to collect the shuttle’s contents personally. After all, this was my mission. I’d like to see it completed myself.” 

The captain turned from the holotable and looked at the lieutenant. The lieutenant’s heart sank into his stomach, and he held his breath hoping it wouldn’t look suspicious that he might have found something on the shuttle. Something that he wouldn’t want the Republic to find out about. Which wasn’t wrong.

“Permission granted.” The lieutenant exhaled deeply. It wasn’t enough for it to be heard through his helmet, but enough for the bottom of his T shaped visor to fog up a little. “Your platoon is due for shore leave anyway. No harm in letting you finish your mission.”

“Thank you, Captain.” He said before saluting and marching out of the room. He turned back the way he came from and took off his helmet. His forehead was sweaty from that confrontation so he wiped it with his glove. His heart had slowed down a bit, but he could still feel it racing. He continued heading the way he came, only to turn a corner and find ‘57, ‘58, Ships, and Dizzy, with ‘59 at the front of the group. All five of them were standing with their arms by their sides along the side of the hall as to not get in anyone’s way, with their helmets held by their hips. 

“Well, sir?” said ‘59.

“Soldiers, pack your bags. We’re heading back to the crash site.” 

The five clones all sighed in relief and loosened themselves from their stances to more relaxed ones. 

Dizzy put his hand on ‘59’s shoulder plate just before speaking up, “Told you I didn’t get hit in the head again. I knew he’d do it.”

The five troops made way as their lieutenant came towards them and continued on his path. He had one last thing to do before packing his things, and his troops followed closely behind him in single file. A few moments later and the lieutenant stopped to look out the window he looked through earlier. Again he saw Kal helping the young clones, but Vhonte was nowhere to be seen now. The five clones stopped as he did, and turned to look out the window also. Once again, Kal noticed him and looked up towards them. The lieutenant saluted, and his troops followed suit. Kal saluted back with a smile, before the lieutenant finished his salute and marched on to his quarters to pack what he needed. As did his troops.


	3. Running

Year: 20 BBY 08:11  
Primeday 01:44:27  
Location: Bothawui

He and the other clones had packed their backpacks to have everything they’d need to survive without a home for a long period of time. If they went through with this, what they were doing would make them enemies of the Republic. They’d be hunted down for desertion. 

The shuttle flight on Bothawui was exactly as long as the last time, but to the lieutenant it felt twice as long. For the first half, nobody spoke, everybody thinking about the consequences. 

That is, until Dizzy broke the silence. “Can you believe we’re doing this? We’re actually leaving,” he said, looking around the shuttle at the other clones, who all chuckled. 

Fifty-nine was the first to respond. “It’s not like it’s going to be hard. We have the mission clearance, we were pretty much trained to be Mandalorians, and we’ll have all the information we need to fill in the blanks soon enough.”

“Well said, Reader.” Replied ‘57. Fifty-nine looked over to him, confused.

“Reader? Is that me?”

“Yeah, you’ve barely put down those datapads and when you have, it was only to pick up another one.” ‘57 explained.

Ships spoke up from the cockpit over the ship’s internal intercom. “Well, I like it. You’ve always been ‘by the books’ too.” A slight chuckle can be heard before the intercom cuts out.

Dizzy hit the bulkhead between the troop compartment and the cockpit while laughing at Ships’ bad joke. “C’mon mate, that wasn’t even a good one,” he yells.

Ships spoke over the intercom again, “You’re right, this mission isn’t by the books at all.”

They all laughed, especially Dizzy who wound up wiping the tears from his eyes. 

Fifty-Seven puts his hand on Dizzy’s shoulder. “You alright there? It was funny, but I wouldn’t say it was THAT funny.”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Dizzy says, with a large grin.

The lieutenant waited for the silly banter starts to die down. “Are you all sure you want to do this?”

“What do you mean, sir?” asked Reader.

“I am. I just want you all to know there’s no turning back after this.” The lieutenant looked at all the clones individually. His piercing blue eyes, a slight defect in his cloning process, met each of theirs. “If any of you don’t want to leave, there’s no shame in that. But once we start, that’s it. There’s no coming home.”

Fifty-seven was the first to speak up. “We all want this, sir. It’s in our blood. To be Mandalorian, I mean.” 

All of the others nod at the lieutenant in agreement with ‘57.

Before anyone can say another word Ships chimed in over the intercom. “I’d hate to interrupt your speech, sir, but we’re about to reach the crash site.”

“Alright,” the lieutenant began, “we don’t need a speech. We all know what we’re doing. Just act natural while putting everything in our LAAT and the troopers guarding the crash site won’t know a thing.” 

The LAAT slowed to a halt, Ships bringing it down for a gentle landing by the crash site. Before the doors open they all place their backpacks closer to the back of the shuttle where they can’t be seen from the outside of the shuttle.

The clones put on their helmets and the shuttle doors open. The first thing they saw was a sergeant with a few troops from his squad saluting the lieutenant.

“Welcome to the crash site, sir. You can call me Grime. With me are CTs 17281 through 17284,” the sergeant said.

“At ease, soldiers,” the lieutenant replied. “No need for the formalities, we’re just here to pick up the cargo from the crash site and we’ll be gone.”

The newly introduced clones finished their salute. Sergeant Grime looked at the newly arrived clones, noticing their small numbers. “If you don’t mind me asking, sir, where’s the rest of your squad?”

Reader and ‘57 looked at each other. “Oh no.” Reader muttered. 

However, the lieutenant put that worry to rest quickly. “To make more room on the shuttle for the cargo I sent the rest of the squad to our drop off location.” 

“Good idea, sir. There isn’t much, but I’m sure the added room would make the ride back more comfortable.” The sergeant considered the undermanned squad, “Will you need any assistance with packing the cargo?”

“I appreciate the offer, Sergeant, but we’ve got it from here. You and your troops can relax in the camp you’ve set up.” 

“Alright, sir. You know where we are if you need assistance.” Sergeant Grime followed the lieutenant’s suggestion and he and his troops left the crash site for the mess tent set up at the nearby camp.

The lieutenant made his way to the crashed shuttle, his troops close behind him. 

“The datapads and history books are already in crates,” he said, quietly. “Reader and Dizzy can move them onto the LAAT. Everyone else pack the relics into crates and then onto the LAAT.” 

Reader, Dizzy and the others moved to do as ordered. While everyone was packing relics and moving crates, the lieutenant walked to the cockpit of the crashed shuttle. He was, of course going in there to get the ISO personality matrix and memory core. 

“Hello again, little buddy,” he said to the box, which lit up a few times before the lieutenant spoke again.

“Don’t worry. I’m getting you out of here and we’ll eventually find you a body.” 

The lieutenant unplugged the box from the shuttle’s now old and out of date data terminal and put the small box into one of his belt compartments. After doing so he left the cockpit and stood in front of the set of Mandalorian armour pinned to the wall. It was the same set of armour mentioned by Synil on that holo recording. 

“Mir’sheb the Savior…” he whispered under his helmet while eyeing down each piece of the armour. 

“Sir,” Fifty-seven interrupted, “would you like me to pack that armour last so you can admire it on the ride out of here?” 

“Sir?” Fifty-seven asked again, when he got no response.

“What’s that?” The lieutenant stayed focused the armour, and ‘57 noticed that he was interrupting something.

“You alright, sir?” he asked.

“Quite the set of armour, isn’t it,” the lieutenant replied, dreamily.

“Yes, sir. I think Reader had the datapad on that savior guy, by the way.” ‘57 clapped the lieutenant on the shoulder before going back to packing crates. 

It wasn’t long before they had packed everything into their LAAT. 

But before they could Sergeant Grime approached the lieutenant. “I assume you didn’t have any trouble packing, sir?”

“None at all, Grime.” The lieutenant said, turning to face to the sergeant. “We’re done here. I’m sure a shuttle will come by soon to take you and your men home.” 

The sergeant nodded and saluted and in turn the lieutenant did the same. The lieutenant finished his salute and jumped into the LAAT.

The shuttle doors close and Ships spoke over the intercom once again. “You guys took your time. Are we ready to go?”

“Ready to go, Ships,” replied the lieutenant. Without a moment’s notice the shuttle lifted off the ground and sped off.

“Here we go, boys.” Ships said before the shuttle drifts off its designated course. All of the clones started banging on the bulkheads and cheering. 

“No more orders!” ‘57 yelled happily.

“That’s what you think!” the lieutenant said, causing the to group erupt in laughter.


	4. Getting Off World

Year: 20 BBY 08:13  
Taungsday 08:36:04  
Location: Bothawui

The Renegade clones had moved camp several times over the past few days to keep anyone from following their tracks. However they couldn’t stay on Bothawui for long, it was occupied by the Republic, eventually, they would be found - they had to get a flight offworld. 

The lieutenant had taken the co-pilot’s seat for the flight to the spaceport of Andle. “Are we getting close to the port, Ships?” he commed.

“Almost there, sir.” Ships replied. “Might be a slight problem, though. There’s been reports of Army activity in the area. They might be looking for us, so we’ll be taking an indirect approach.”

Like Ships said, It wasn’t long until they reached the spaceport and requested permission to land disguised as an inspection team for the Republic. When the doors opened on the LAAT, ‘57 and ‘58 jumped out and searched the area. As luck would have it, there wasn’t anything remotely to do with the Republic to be seen, besides themselves being in full clone armour, of course.

“Area seems safe.” ‘57 said over the group’s helmet communicators. 

The lieutenant and Ships they popped open their canopy hatches and slid down to the ground before the shuttleport crew arrived with the ladders.

“Everyone get the cargo prepared to be moved to another ship,” the lieutenant ordered. “Reader and I will try to find a pilot and a ship to get us off-world.” 

He walked out of the docking bay with Reader on his heels, making for the spaceport cantina.

It’s empty, or close to empty. There’s a few booths along the walls with people sitting in them, and a few more at the bar in the middle. The lieutenant picks a booth, with a lone man and his drink, and walks over, Reader not far behind. He takes a seat across from him.

“Are you a pilot?” he asks.

The man looks up from his drink. “Maybe.” He looks back down, swirling his drink in his hand. “Maybe. What’s-it to you ‘Pubbies’?”

“We need a way off this planet,” replies the lieutenant.

“Well,” the man’s eyes shift to the end of the table quickly, and he smiles at the lieutenant, “I ain’t no pilot.”

“But I am.” 

The speaker, a young woman with shoulder-length ginger hair, tied up in a ponytail, and a large scowl over a face-full of freckles, had approached unnoticed by either the lieutenant or Reader. She glared at them both and continued, “And you’re sitting in my seat.”

Not looking to cause any trouble, the lieutenant jumped out of the seat to let her take it back, and stood at the end of the table.. 

“Are you able to get us off world?” He asked after she sat down.

“Depends.” She reaches across the table, and her companion passes the glass across to her.

“On what?” 

She exchanges a look with the man opposite her before responding, “Number of passengers and weight of the cargo.”

“We’ve got 14 crates and 6 people.”

“Gonna cost ya.”

“I’m sure I can part with a crate of relics.”

The pilot continued facing the clones, but her eyes flicked to her compatriot. He shook his head twice, the universal signal for ‘don’t’. 

She looked back up to the lieutenant, “You’ve got yourself a deal. But if these relics don’t get me any money, then I’m demanding payment from your “Republic” for this flight.”

Reader chuckles under his helmet. 

“What’s your friend laughing at?”

“We’ll tell you once we’re in the air.” The lieutenant replied.

She waves it off, seemingly disinterested. “Get your crates to docking bay five and we’ll ship out as soon as it’s all loaded.”

The lieutenant turned on his group communicator and said “Load the cargo into a ship in bay five. We’ll meet you there.”

“Yes, sir.” ‘57 responded.

The LAAT was landed on the opposite side of the spaceport to the cantina, so the two clones and the woman began making their way to bay five and meet up with the other clones.

“I’m Elise,” the woman introduced herself. “How ‘bout your names?”

“I”m CT-2434,” the lieutenant gestured to his compatriot, “and this is Reader.”

“Reader, huh.” Elise nodded to the clone, then turned back to the lieutenant. “So why’s your name all numbers when his name is a word?”

“Well-” But before the lieutenant could continue, a group of clone troopers turned a corner and faced them. Without a moment’s notice they raised their rifles and opened fire on the group. Instinctively, the lieutenant pushed Elise behind some crates and dove to take cover behind a pillar with Reader.

“Why are your people shooting at us?!” Elise yelled at the clones.

“They’re not our people!” The lieutenant yelled back. “We’ll explain once we’re in the air!” 

Without any other way to get to bay five, the lieutenant lifted a blaster pistol from the side of his greave and returned fire at the enemy clone troopers, as did Elise and Reader. A few of the enemy clones dropped to the ground and the rest scattered behind cover. The back and forth blaster fire continued as the two renegade clones and Elise advanced, slowly taking them out one by one until all of the enemy troopers were lying on the floor. 

“Bay five is just a bit down that hall and around the corner,” Elise said. “Let’s get there before a few more of those ‘Pubbies show up.” 

She started running down the corridor and the two clones followed.

With her head start, Elise was the first to make it to bay 5. There was a clone trooper standing by, guarding the entrance. Without slowing, she aimed and fired at him, sending him diving for cover.

The lieutenant, came skidding up behind her, taking in the situation at a glance. 

“Elise, stop!” He shouted. “He’s with us!” 

When she had lowered her blaster, the lieutenant called out again, “It’s alright to come out now ‘58.”

The trooper poked his head out from behind the doorway. “Why was she shooting at me to begin with?” He asked.

“We ran into some Republic troops earlier,” the lieutenant replied, “they’re onto us.”

Behind ‘58 was a YT-1760 small transport ship, fitted with blaster cannons on the top and bottom, as well as at the front. It was a small ship, but big enough to do the job it was needed for.

 

Elise pulled out a small datapad from a pouch on her belt and typed in her passcode for her ship, lowering the loading ramp.

“Time to start loading those crates, boys.” Elise told the clones. 

It took a while, but eventually everything was loaded. 

“Is your cargo all loaded?” asked Elise.

Fifty-eight noded and quickly raised his rifle and fired at a group of clones charging into the ship bay. The lieutenant, Reader, and Elise all ran to the loading platform that had lowered, while ‘58 provided covering fire. 

Elise ran to the cockpit of her ship which, Ships was already seated in the co-pilot seat. The two started the ship as the lieutenant, Reader, Dizzy, and ‘57 provided covering fire for ‘58 to run to the ship. 

A few of the Republic troops were hit, some ducked in cover. One trooper with sickly green sergeant’s stripes stepped out and fired a single shot, striking ‘58 in the back as he ran. His momentum carried him forward, and he fell flat on the ground, meters before the loading ramp to the ship. The rest of the troops broke cover and advanced, firing, forcing the renegade clones to retreat into the ship. 

“Fifty-eight is down!” The lieutenant yelled to the others, “We can’t get to him!”

“We need to take off now!” Elise yelled back. “The shields aren’t going to last if we don’t!” 

The ship’s loading ramp was raised and any chance of getting to ‘58 disappeared as the ship started to lift off. The lieutenant charged into the ship, heading straight for the lower gunner’s seat. He didn’t bother strapping himself in, just opened fire, taking out a few of the enemy troopers. He didn’t have enough time to shoot them all before the ship had taken off into space. The lieutenant had had casualties on missions before, but not like this.

He sat there for a while, watching Bothawui get smaller and smaller, but the reality of their situation couldn’t be avoided forever. The lieutenant climbed out and headed to the cockpit. Ships, Reader, ‘57, and Dizzy were all sitting and chatting on an old lounge in the common area. He placed his helmet on a bench and sat in the co-pilot seat.

“Your boys tell me you’re the leader of the group, Lieutenant.” said Elise. “They say you’re the reason they were able to leave the Republic Army.”

“Yeah. They tell you about the crash site?” The lieutenant asked.

“They did. And that you’re all Mandalorians now.” She confirmed. “Do you know the story of Cormak?”

“No idea.” he replied.

“Well,” she began, “there was this village that had quite a large fighting force to protect it. One day they were attacked by an equally large group of warriors and they took over the village. All but a handful of warriors and villagers survived. But that didn’t stop Cormak. He lead those warriors and villagers into battle and managed to take back that village even though the odds were overwhelming.”

“Oh yeah? Where’d you hear that?” The lieutenant asked.

“Reader told me about it being in of of those history books he’s been reading. Cormak was one of those Fayne guys.”

“So what’s this story got to do with any of this?”

She shot him a quick glance before returning her attention to the flight controls. “Well the way your boys see it, that clan is the village, and you’re Cormak. You’re leading a small group to take back what was lost.”

The lieutenant nodded slowly, thinking on what she had said. “I take it they’re going to be calling me Cormak from now on then?”

“Sounded like they were pretty set on that being your name, yeah.” Elise replied, flipping a switch. 

There was a silence as the lieutenant lost himself in thought, watching the view through the cockpit windows.

Elise’s voice broke through his contemplation “There’s one more thing I’d like to know,” she said.

“And what’s that?”

She smiled. “Where’re we heading?”


	5. A Fresh Design

Year: 20 BBY 08:14  
Zhellday 011:12:00  
Location: Space

Being that it was controlled by the Hutts and not the Republic, Tatooine was a great place to be for those who wanted to stay away from the war. But that was only one of the reasons they chose the planet. Clan Fayne had had an outpost in the middle of nowhere on Tatooine that had remained untouched for years and years before the datapad Reader got its location from was even written. However, they still had to travel there. 

Elise’s ship, Trinity’s Bounty, had enough living space for the group of six clones and Elise, and with how long it would take to fly to Tatooine, they had decided to use the downtime to clear their heads after losing their brother. All of them had taken off their armour plating and were roaming the ship in their under armour. Cormak chose to repaint his and his brothers’ armour with the various spray paint kits Elise had in her cargo hold.

Cormak decided to go with the opposite with what their armour was now, black. But that wasn’t the only colour he used. He let each of his brothers add their own special designs if they wanted. To his own, he added green where the blue of his lieutenant rank would have been. His helmet had a design that resembles a Krayt Dragon head, his breastplate had a green stripe painted down the middle, his shoulder guards were a flat green with his bicep guards and gauntlets having a green strip around the start of each piece with the parts guarding his hand being a flat green, and his knee guards were painted with a green strip along the bottom of them. 

It took mere minutes for the paints to dry and he quickly put his armour back on to show it off. He left the cargo hold and entered the ship’s common area.

As he entered the common area, all the clones cheered for his new armour design and Elise just leaned on door frame to the cockpit. 

“It’s the same design as before but with different colours?” she questioned.

Fifty-seven was the first to reply, “Colour means a lot more to us than I guess it does for you, then.”

“Yeah, the black contrasts with the white it was before and the green represents his duty. The design didn’t change because he’s still the same person,” added Reader.

Cormak pointed at Reader, “What he said.”

“Ah, well, I didn’t know I was smuggling a band of artists off world.” Elise grinned.

Cormak took his armour plating off again and joined his brothers on the couches spread about. It was just as hard to tell them apart with their armour off as it was with their armour on. Cormak was the only one with any features that stood out from the group, with his slightly defective cloning giving him blue eyes.

“So how am I going to tell you all apart without name tags? I ran out of those last time I smuggled a group of identical men off a planet.” Elise teased.

“Name tags would work, except for the fact that Dizzy would switch them around when we aren’t paying attention.” replied Reader.

“I would n-.” Dizzy began to protest, before changing his mind. “Ok, yes, I would.” 

The group laughed at Dizzy’s expense, and Dizzy grins at them all.

“I don’t know how to tell most of you apart. Cormak has got his blue eyes, but the rest of you all look the same to me,” said Elise. “Why don’t we get you boys some haircuts so I know who’s who?” 

“Sounds like a plan,” Cormak agreed. “It would be good to have some more individuality since we’re our own men now.”

Elise walked over to another compartment of the ship and came back moments later, wheeling a chair with hair clippers and canisters random hair dyes sitting on it. “Alright, who’s first?”

Dizzy is the first one to get up from the couches. He raced to the chair, shouting, “I’m first!”

“Alright, what do you want done?” Elise asked.

“Oh, we’re deciding what we have done?”

Ships piped up from the couches, “Get some lightning bolts!”

“Alright!” Dizzy agreed. “Lightning bolts it is!”

Elise laughed. “Alright, then,” she said, before she shaved his hair short and then shaved in the outlines of lightning bolts shorter, one on either side of his head and two on the top. After it was done, Dizzy got out of the chair and felt the sides of his head. 

Next up was ‘57, who got the sides of his hair cut into a short undercut, which was suggested by Elise. Reader got his head shaved really short to signify their new start with a new head of hair, and Ships opted to just wear an old cap he found somewhere on the ship and to grow his hair a bit longer. He thought it was best to have his face as hidden as possible considering he would be up in the cockpit with Elise most of the time.

Over the next few hours the renegade clones added their own designs to their newly painted armour and all chose to follow suit with Cormak and paint their designs green. Eventually all of them went to bed, except for Cormak, who decided to sit in the cockpit and keep an eye on the ship.

He was alone for a while, until ‘57 came into the cockpit and seated himself into the co-pilot’s chair next to Cormak.

“Can’t sleep, ‘57?” asked Cormak.

“Nope,” answered ‘57.

They both went silent for a few moments before Cormak reignited the conversation. “You haven’t said much since we got offworld. You alright after what happened?”

“I actually came up here to ask you the same thing. Elise said you took leaving ‘58 behind poorly and we should let you have your space for a bit while you were in that gunner seat,” ‘57 replied.

“Yeah.” The cockpit fell silent again as lowered his head and breathed in and out deeply through his nose. “But don’t worry about me. You didn’t answer my question, by the way.”

“Uhh, I don’t know. Me and ‘58 were paired together in everything. He was the one who spoke for me when I couldn’t. I don’t know what I’m going to do without him. I feel alone,” ‘57 answered.

“You’re not alone. You’ve got me and your brothers.”

“I know, but it was different with ‘58.”

“How so?”

“We were partners.”

“I know. You two were paired together on the battlefield for a reason.”

“No like, partners,” explained ‘57, emphasising the word “partners” and stretching out the ‘ar’ syllable.

“I don’t understand?”

“We were romantically involved.” 

“Oh, I see.”

“What makes it worse is,” ‘57 paused and his expression saddened. “That was our sergeant back there. Our sergeant shot him in the back. Someone I trusted to protect mine, took the life of the man I cared about most.” Before he said any more, he turned his head to look outside the cockpit at the space outside. “That was the reason we decided to become Mandalorian. There’s no rules with marriage. But in the Republic we aren’t allowed to have feelings. We were just used as tools for their war, and nothing else.”

The two clones shared a moment of silence and stared off into space, but their moment was broken by Ships, whose turn it was to keep watch of the ship controls and Cormak and ‘57 both went to get some sleep in the crew’s quarters.


	6. A New Ally

Year: 20 BBY 08:17  
Centaxday 13:03:19  
Location: Tatooine

Elise had landed the Bounty on the top of the rocky mountain that Clan Fayne’s base was built into. The clones planned to climb down the side of the mountain and land on one of the balconies at the top of the base, while Ships and Elise stayed with the ship. 

One by one, Cormak, ‘57, Dizzy and Reader all abseiled down the rocky cliff face and landed on the balcony bellow. Cormak was the first to land and made sure the balcony was secure before he signaled for the other three clones to climb down. The balcony was scattered with inactive droids, some standing in an idle pose, and others collapsed on the floor.

Reader kicked one of the collapsed droids, rolling it over. “These droids look weird. None of them look the same and they’ve all been modified?”

Cormak kneeled down by one of the droids. “We need to find one that works for the ISO chips. Let’s move into the mountain, these are all dead,” he ordered.

The group made their way through the hallway into the base, exploring every room, trying to find a droid body that was functional. After going down a few flights of stairs and clearing out each floor, they eventually found a room with a disabled droid standing at the back of the room. As they entered the room, Cormak’s pocket lit up. It was the light on ISO’s box.

“I think this is it,” Cormak said, placing his rifle against a table covered in ancient gadgets. The disabled droid chassis was clearly not one that could be mass produced like the Separatist droids seen during their time in the Republic Army. This one was of an ancient design. Built to resemble the shape of a human, it was fit with a full set of Mandalorian armour. Its gauntlets were covered in weapons, with a flamethrower on the side, a grappling cable on the top, and a retractable blade on the wrist. It had a jetpack, spikes on the elbow and knee guards for melee combat. It’s face slightly resembled a bald male human. It’s nose was flat and pointed down, its mouth was a slim rectangular hole, and its brows covered dark, empty sockets. Despite its resemblances to a human, it was clearly a droid because of its durasteel chassis. This droid was specially designed to handle all types of combat. 

Cormak opened his belt pocket and pulled out the cube, and the chips out from it. Moving closer to the droid chassis, he looked closely to find the right ports in the sides and back of the head to put them in. Once he did that, he stepped back and the clones all waited in suspense for something to happen.

There were a few moments of silence, before Dizzy broke the suspense. “You sure you did it right?”

“To be honest, no idea,” responded Cormak.

“To be fair, none of us have even seen a droid of this desi-” Reader was cut off by the droid coming to life. They could hear the centuries-old parts grinding as they started for the first time in who knew how long. The droid stood up straight and looked to its left, to the table by Cormak’s rifle, on which was its helmet. An old Mandalorian helmet design, it was painted a dark red like the rest of the mandalorian armour it was wearing.

The clones all watched, each of them had their weapons raised and pointed at the droid, except for Cormak, who left his rifle leaning on the table by the helmet. 

It moved its arms and legs around, and rolled its neck. It looked at the group of clones and then back at the rifle beside it. 

“Are you really going to shoot me, an unarmed, fellow Mandalorian?” it asked in a deep, robotic voice.

“It depends. Are you really the ISO we heard about?” Asked Cormak

“I am.” ISO replied.

“Then they won’t fire unless you give them a reason to.” responded Cormak.

ISO looked over to Cormak and nodded. “A just course of action.” 

ISO reached for its helmet but hesitated to pick it up. “My sensors are picking up that someone’s rifle is shaking. The man closest to the wall is scared, and backed himself into a corner.”

“Don’t worry about ISO, Dizzy. He’s on our side.” 

Just as Cormak finishes saying that, he steps forward and and reaches for ISO’s shoulder. In one swift motion, ISO reacts to Cormak’s reach by pulling his arm with his technological enhanced strength, crouching and flipping Cormak over his back. ISO grabbed onto the rifle resting next to him with his other hand, and as Cormak was flipped onto his rear, ISO stood up and placed the end of the barrel on Cormak’s neck. 

“ARE YOU SCARED NOW?!” ISO roared, his deep robotic voice so loud that it can be heard echoing down the empty hall just outside the room. 

The clones reacted quickly to the situation, spreading themselves across the room to each get better positions to fight against an unpredictable droid with a captive. 

“Do not assume I am your ally just because you helped me.” ISO declared as he lowered the rifle and reached a hand down to help Cormak to his feet.

Cormak stood, and face to face with the droid, asked, “Are you our ally?”

“Of course I am,” ISO answered.

“Then why,” Reader peeked around his rifle, still trained on ISO, “did you start a hostage situation?”

“You couldn’t imagine how boring being on your own for two thousand years could be. I couldn’t resist scaring Dizzy.” There was a burst of static from the droid, like a snort of laughter, “I’m surprised he didn’t fire prematurely when he jumped out of his skin.”

“I-I wasn’t scared!”

“Lower your rifles,” Cormak ordered to his soldiers. “You’re a sadistic droid, but I’m sure you’ll make a great addition to our clan.” He said to ISO, not sure if he really meant those words or didn’t want to risk another incident. Acting like he was ok with the situation was the best way to keep ISO somewhat under control. 

“Your clan?” ISO’s head tilted curiously. “If I remember correctly, I’m the last remaining member of Clan Fayne. What gives you the right to take command over me?”

“He’s our leader,” said Reader, “always has been.”

“That doesn’t make him the alor of a clan,” explained ISO. “The title of alor was only given to those in the Fayne bloodline. If you wished to take command of the clan you would have to beat Alor Fayne in one-on-one combat.”

“Well if you want to take command, you will have to beat me in a fight,” replied Cormak.

ISO’s head turned towards him. “I’m not sure if you’re joking with me or taking your role seriously. Either way, I like it. You may have your leadership role.” 

ISO handed the rifle to Cormak and picked up his helmet, clipping it to his utility belt before exiting the room.

“Where are you going?” asked Cormak.

“Follow, and you will find out.” ISO responded.

The clones all followed ISO up some flights of stairs and through some hallways before entering a room filled with droid parts. 

ISO dug through a large pile of random droid limbs and body parts. “It’s a shame all my friends ended up like this,” he said. “I’m certain that those are Teefour-oneoh’s legs leaning up against the wall outside.”

Dizzy, being at the back of the group and closest to the door, peeks his head out the door and looks at the large, ancient battle droid legs leaning up against the wall, just as ISO said. 

“Must have been a big guy, huh?” he asked.

“Teefour was bigger than us huddled into a tight group,” ISO responded, still digging. “So yes, he was a ‘big guy’.”

Eventually ISO pulled a sniper rifle from the bottom of the scrap parts pile. ISO moved to a table and opened the hatch on it and pulled out multiple corrosive gas grenades which he placed into his many pockets on his belt. He grabbed a large backpack and without anything else being said he started moving again, with the clones close behind him. 

While walking around the base, Reader spoke up, “Where are you leading us?”

“You will see.”.

Reader looked to the rest of the clones and Cormak responded to Reader, “Don’t look at me, I’m just following the one who knows his way around this place.”

Eventually ISO and the clones end up back on the balcony they started at. 

“I know about your training so far, but that doesn’t make you a Mandalorian.” The droid began, “We go through rigorous tests at young ages to prove our worth and earn our title as the galaxy's most fierce warriors. You have been trained in combat and some Mandalorian traditions but that is all. I have already come up with a test for all of you that will prove your strength in battle.” 

He pointed out to the endless sea of sand. “Out there are your ‘brothers’. The clones who are built just like you. But they are not you. You are yourself. And to be unique from them, you must separate yourself from them.” 

As he spoke, two points appeared on the horizon. “Prepare yourselves to fight your past, and prove to me that you are serious about being Mandalorian.” 

ISO raised his sniper rifle above his head. “OYA FAYNE!” he shouted to the clones. 

To a man, they did the same, the cry of “OYA FAYNE!” carrying across the desert sands.


	7. The Trial

Year: 20 BBY 08:17  
Centaxday 14:32:04  
Location: Tatooine

Elise and Ships had climbed down to the balcony per Cormak’s order and they were introduced to ISO. Dizzy told them about what he was capable of in a quiet aside. ISO also got the frequency the clones used for their helmets so he could talk to them while they were on the ground.

“Those ships are getting closer. Take the stairs down the hall to your left and follow them down to the ground. Prepare yourselves for battle.” he said to the clones.

Elise readied her blaster pistol and made to follow the clones but was stopped by ISO grabbing her shoulder. 

“This is their test, and their test alone.”

Elise rolled her eyes at the droid. “I guess I’ll be waiting in my ship, then.” 

ISO nodded and moved to the edge of balcony. He aimed down his sniper’s sight at the two LAATs heading towards them. 

The groups helmet communications chimed on and ISO’s voice came through the clone’s speakers, “Elise will not be assisting you in this battle, but I will provide light overwatch. Are you ready?”

“Yes, sir,” responded Cormak. “We are on the ground and we have sufficient cover.” 

“No, move up. You will be on the offensive at all times during this encounter.”

On the ground each of the clones looked at each other cluelessly, but did as they were instructed. They moved up the large sand dunes that surrounded the base and peeked over the top with their binoculars.

“Be ready to intercept the right ship when it lands.” ISO’s digital voice rang through their communicators once again. 

The clones continued to climb up and down the sand dunes, on an intercept course with the first LAAT, while ISO caused problems for the second, a slug round straight into one of the engines. It was forced to land early, and its clone troopers had to continue on foot. 

The first LAAT managed to land on the opposite side of the largest sand dune, which meant the renegade clones had to climb their way up. By the time they made it to the top, the Republic clones had landed and started jumping out of the LAAT.

“Remember, these are not your brothers anymore. They are your hunters. Make them your prey.” ISO’s voice, an echo of Fayne leaders of old, came over the helmet communicators once more as he watched the battle from above. 

“We’ll slide down and take them by surprise. Shoot while we slide.” Cormak ordered. The renegade clones all jumped over the tip of the dune and slid down on their backs, aiming their rifles down at the Republic troopers. A handful of the Republic troopers fall to the ground, dead or grievously injured. The few who managed to get behind or inside the LAAT soon found that cover wouldn’t be helping them. The renegades moved around one side of the ship, keeping their distance, and open fired on the Republic troopers that hiding inside the ship.

“No mercy.” ISO said over their helmet communicators. 

The renegades followed this order and circled the LAAT, shooting at the pilots and killing the soldiers who hid behind the ship. 

Cormak took the helmet off of one of the Republic soldiers, as well as his own, putting on the Republic helmet and speaking over their communications. “The soldiers sent down in this ship are all dead. We don’t want to kill you, but we will if you don’t leave now.”

The helmet stays silent for a few moments before a Republic clone said anything back.

“Hello, CT-2434,” the voice said. “This is Sergeant, or should I say, Lieutenant. If you are done playing Mando and come willingly, you will be tried fairly.”

Cormak looked over to ‘57 and continued to speak over the helmet communicator. “I’m glad you're here, Sergeant,” he said mockingly. “I have someone who wants to see you.” 

He removed the Republic helmet and retrieved his own. “Guess who got my old command, boys. Let’s take him down.”

Fifty-seven looked at Cormak. “He’s here?” 

Cormak nodded in response.

“We’re going to leave the best for last. ‘58 didn’t even get a chance at a new life, and this is our chance to make the Sergeant pay for taking him from us,” said Cormak. “They’re all on foot, so we have the high ground on these dunes. Spread out and pick your targets.” 

As ordered, the renegade clones spread out behind the dunes, the order of “Open fire!” coming from Cormak as soon as they were in position.

The renegade clones all peeked over their sand dunes and opened fire at a group of clones that were ready for them. They hit a few, but were forced to duck in cover.

“ISO! We need overwatch.” Yelled Cormak over the helmet communicators.

“I don’t like your tone. And this is your test, not mine.” ISO replied.

Cormak grunted and a handful more Republic soldiers came around from the side of the renegades, forcing them to fall back.

“Their numbers are going to be too much, sir. They’re too spread out,” said Reader.

“Fall back to that LAAT,” Cormak ordered the group.

They all climbed up and down a few sand dunes again, avoiding enemy fire until they got back to LAAT. Cormak jumped inside the one open door and threw a few Republic shields onto the ground. 

“Ships, Dizzy, ‘57,” Cormak began, “Hold up these shields in a semicircle. Reader, with me. Return fire from behind their cover.”

The renegades readied for the next Republic assault. They moved back to a more open area instead of being behind a sand dune, to remove the high ground from enemy. It wasn’t long before the Republic troopers made it over the sand dunes, and started firing at the renegades. This time however, it turned in the renegade's favour, taking out multiple Republic troopers as the peeked their heads over the sand dunes.

“Shields, move to your right!” Cormak ordered, allowing himself and Reader to move and fire from another angle.

After a brief back and forth between the renegades and Republic troopers, the gunfire stopped. The Republic troopers had stopped their assault for a moment. The renegades took advantage of this moment and Cormak told Ships, Dizzy, and ‘57 to shove their shields into the sand, making them stand on their own. The renegades ran to the left of the shields and hid behind a sand dune. Then they waited. It wasn’t long before the Republic troopers charged over the sand dune they were hiding behind and opened fire at the standing shields, knocking them over. The renages sprang into action as soon as they heard blaster bolts hit the shields. They leapt over the sand dune and started shooting at the Republic troopers, devastating the enemy forces, except for one, still hiding behind the sand dune. 

The renegade clones grouped up a few meters away from the bottom of the sand dune the last trooper, their former sergeant, was hiding behind. 

“You’re done ‘98!” Cormak yelled down to him. “Your men are all dead and you are next!”

“That is where you’re wrong!” Said a similar voice from over another sand dune, one that the Republic troopers didn’t come from during their assault. After that was said, a Republic trooper with blue markings, that match the sergeant’s old sickly green ones, slid down the dune and fired stun rounds at the renegades, all shots hitting, sending them all sprawling in the sand. 

“Now you’re all going to watch as I kill your leader,” said the lieutenant as he kicked off Cormak’s helmet. He switched his blaster off stun and stood over Cormak’s limp body, aiming his rifle between Cormak’s eyes. “Say goodbye to your boys, ‘lieutenant’.”

However, as he finished saying this, he heard footsteps running towards him. It was ‘57, who had stayed hidden behind one of the shields that was still standing. The man who had taken the life of his partner was now going to take the lives of the last of his friends and he wasn’t going to let that happen. Before the lieutenant has any time to react, ‘57 tackled him to the ground, knocking the lieutenant’s rifle to the ground. ‘57 started punching the lieutenant’s helmet, the lieutenant’s raised his fists to protect his helmet from any damage. But ‘57’s blind rage was too much for him. ‘57’s punches started to crack the lieutenant’s blue gauntlets. No longer absorbing the punches, the gauntlets broke, causing ‘57’s punches to hit the lieutenant’s arms. The lieutenant rolled over, knocking ‘57 onto his side. They both jumped to the feet and in a rage-fueled fury, ‘57 punched and kicked at the lieutenant, forcing him to keep stepping back while unsuccessfully blocking the attacks. Eventually, the lieutenant was knocked to the ground once again and ‘57 jumped on top of him. He quickly grabbed the lieutenant’s wrists and held them in the sand above his head. With his free hand he repeatedly punched the lieutenant’s helmet with all the strength he had. The helmet started to crack and ‘57 didn’t hold back. The helmet broke, revealing a bloodied-nosed clone trooper. Still, ‘57 didn’t hold back. He continued to punch the lieutenant’s face until there was no life left and blood had covered his fist, and filled the helmet.

Fifty-seven lay down in the sand speaking over his helmet communicator to ISO and Elise, “Requesting evac.” 

“Request granted,” ISO replied. “Elise and I will be down there soon.”

When Elise landed the ship, the renegade clones had just started to regain control of their bodies. Cormak had gotten up and somehow carried his semi-stunned body to the landing ramp where he was welcomed by ISO, and Elise who ran to him and wrapped her arms around his chest. 

“Calm down, I was only stunned.” Cormak said.

“Don’t get your hopes up, I’m just helping you walk,” replied Elise, with a big grin on her face.

Ships, Dizzy, and Reader each made their way up the loading ramp but ‘57 stayed lying in the sand. ISO walked up to him. ISO patted ‘57 on the chest with a metal clang from his robotic hand, and helped him up. The two of them made their way up the loading ramp of Elise’s ship in silence.

Once on the ship and spread out across the various couches in the common area of the ship, ISO started another speech. 

“Today I am proud to call you Mandalorians. You have all passed your verd’goten, a trial for young Mandalorians to become adults. Your battle tactics were admirable, the surprise attack, the distraction, and the second surprise attack worked well until the end, where it was the strength of your brother ‘57’s thirst for revenge that saved you all. He is to be commended and rewarded his jaig eyes and he is to be honoured for his bravery in the face of defeat. Good job, Mandalorians. Now if you don’t mind, Elise, I’d like to explore this ship.” 

ISO left the others, and wandered down ship’s hallway.

By now the complete effects of the stun rays had worn off and they were all able to move around. 

Elise leaned on the back of one of the couches looking at all of them. “I’m proud of you guys. I have no idea what all that Mando stuff means, but you put up a great fight and won. That’s cause for drinks if you ask me.” 

She made for a cabinet, and began pulling out a bunch of glasses and various bottles. The renegade clones all sit up and take a glass each and have their drinks poured for them by Elise. 

Each of the clones took their helmets off and started chatting with one another and Cormak took ‘57 aside to talk.

“You did good out there. If it wasn’t for you, we’d all be dead,” Cormak said.

“If it wasn’t for him, ‘58 would still be here,” replied ‘57.

“I know, but ‘98 got what he deserved,” Cormak said as he wrapped on arm around ‘57’s shoulders. “Now drink up, we’re celebrating your jaig eyes tonight.”

Fifty-seven and Cormak rejoined the group and ISO returned from his inspection of the ship. 

“The celebrations from my time were much louder and more violent.” ISO said, entering the commons area and looking around at everyone.

Dizzy took the chance to imitate ISO by deepening his voice and saying, “Back in my day we used to punch each other.” 

The renegade clones and Elise all laughed Dizzy’s impression and everyone spent the night listening to ISO’s stories of the Mandalorians of his time.

**Author's Note:**

>  **How the dating system works**  
>  YEAR MONTH:DAY  
> DAY HOUR:MINUTE:SECOND  
>  **Example from chapter 1:**  
>  20 BBY 08:05  
> Benduday 10:34:11  
>   
> 20 years before the battle of Yavin,  
> 8th month, 6th week,  
> 10th hour, 34th minute, 11th second  
>   
> Thank you to [dweadpiwatemeggers](http://archiveofourown.org/users/dweadpiwatemeggers) for proof reading and correcting my mistakes.


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